A friend here at O’Reilly swung by my office the other day and commented on the copy of the Anarchist Cookbook I had on my desk and that I should check out The Poor Man’s James Bond. He had a picked up a copy of it a few years ago at a garage sale and brought it into work for me to check out.
According to Wikipedia, the book was compiled by former American Nazi Party member Kurt Saxon (credited with coining the term “survivalist”) and it was geared at the growing survivalist movement of the 1970s and 80s. It was a counterpoint to the Anarchist Cookbook, which he claimed contained many inaccuracies.
The second issue of The Poor Man’s James Bond talks about improvised weapons that could be made legally using common household items. It also had a number of easily made and readily available booby traps and a number of other explosives recipes. In addition, the book covered fireworks, chemistry, archery targets, scrap spearguns, and more!
We took a few pictures of the book and I got a kick out of all of the potentially very dangerous projects involved. It reminded me of the The Dangerous Book for Boys for grownups.
In the preface, Kurt recounts a time where he was making concussive caps and nearly lost an ear and his hearing when it was mixed improperly. So, remember to read the directions all the way through, get a Ph.D. in chemistry, and then start building.
[make_slideshow slug=”the-poor-mans-james-bond” link=”Launch the Slideshow” title=”The Poor Man’s James Bond”]
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